Can't Let Go
by Orangina Locks
Summary: Haruno Sakura is a boring student that can't get a date to last more than a couple of minutes. How did she get to be famous rock star Uchiha Sasuke's best friend? Or, used to be, as Sasuke hasn't spoken to her in three years. SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Can't Let Go **

The trees always look so much nicer in spring, don't you think? Always so much greener, brighter and altogether much fresher. They are very interesting to stare at as well, I can speak with experience. Because that is what I was doing.

"Sakura-san, are you listening to me?" The man I was with finally broke through my daydreaming.

"What? Oh, err… yes, of course I am" Even I don't believe that.

The man –I can't remember his name for the life of me- got up from his seat across the table from me.

"Look, I don't think this is going to work" He said, a slight amount of pain in his eyes.

"Why not? Everything was going so well! Please don't go!" I have to say, pleading like this is becoming a habit, as much as I don't like to admit it.

Even before I went out on the date, I knew things wouldn't work. Nothing ever works. I get that from everyone I have ever dated. It's actually quite freaky how they almost repeat exactly the same words. I just haven't been able to take the hint yet.

"Sure, if you call that going _well_. You weren't looking at me and I'm positive you have no idea what I have been saying for the last half an hour." Ooh, he's kind of got me there.

Hey I know, let play a game. I'll predict the future and show my amazing talents as a psychic.

Here goes: _I_ _know there's someone else, Sakura_

"I know there's someone else, Sakura"

_I'm __obviously not the one you want, so I'm going to just go and stop wasting my time _

"I'm obviously not the one you want, so I'm going to just go and stop wasting my time"

_Goodbye _

"I'll see you later, OK? I don't want us to stop being friends"

Oh, I got the last bit wrong, damn.

I watched my date walk away, again, and I was alone on my table. You've probably guessed that this is a usual occurrence, and you're right.

I couldn't stand the pitying looks I got from the other people in the restaurant, so I left as well.

It's pretty sad that a 21 year old woman can't get a date that lasts more than half an hour, but then again, I'm a pretty sad person. I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?

My name is Haruno Sakura, originally from Konoha, Japan, but now residing in Tokyo studying medicine at the university. It was always going to happen, my Dad is a brilliant doctor and ever since I was young I've been able to remember a large amount of facts. I was a bookish type of person and wanted to follow in my Dad's footsteps.

I'd just fade away into the crowd by not being very interesting if not for my hair.

It's pink.

I'm not joking; my hair is naturally pink (although almost no one believes me).

I can blame my parents for my odd shade of hair, as my Dad is a redhead, and my Mother has such blonde hair that it is almost sliver. Mix them together, and hey presto, you have a daughter with pink hair.

I'm 21, like I said before, and my birthday is the 28th March. My interests include reading, becoming a doctor, hitting people and mainly just being pathetic in love. I am about average height, if not slightly taller and I suppose you could call me slim.

Not to mention I have an abnormally sized forehead.

That's about it; you now know basically everything about me. Oh, except one thing.

I used to be best friends with Uchiha Sasuke.

Please don't scream as my ears are already damaged enough.

No, you can't get me to take you to meet him.

No, you can't get his autograph.

I don't have any of his clothes or anything creepy like that so just don't ask.

Come on, I mean, seriously, does no one understand the meaning of 'used to be'? I haven't seen that man in three years, and haven't spoken to him longer.

I suppose it's the most exciting thing about me, to most people at least.

In case by some miracle you don't know who Uchiha Sasuke is, I'll give you a bit of background information.

He appeared on the charts a couple of years back shocking crowds with his _amazing_ and _unique_ voice, just after he had left school, and has since become a major star in Japan with his band Hebi. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to get his degree whilst juggling his music career at the same time. Then again, he was always a genius, even when we were young. I'm sure Mikoto-chan… I mean Uchiha-san would never let him get away with wasting his education.

However, I'm sure he has already wasted it; he's a rock star, everyone knows what they're like.

I'm being very stereotypical here, and I'm sorry to those rock stars that are unfortunate enough to be accused with rumours that aren't true.

Oh no, every time I think of the Uchiha, I start feeling all depressed. I think that ice cream is needed.

Whilst I was wrapped up in my thinking, I didn't notice that that I had already arrived at my apartment. If you can call it that.

I'm a student, meaning I don't have that much money to spare, although I am very responsible with the stuff I have got. My apartment consists of a single bedroom, a living room slash kitchen and a bathroom. Nothing to fancy, but it gets me by.

Just wait until I become a world famous doctor, saving thousands of lives everyday and earning a fortune.

Ah, it's good to dream.

I opened the door and went inside, and was surprised to see that the light was on.

"I must have forgotten to turn it off when I went out" I murmured while scolding myself for wasting electricity.

I dropped my bag lazily on the floor and went to go hang my coat up.

"Ice cream time" I giggled crazily as I headed to my kitchen.

Just before I went through the door, I heard a noise of someone moving, in my kitchen!

I grabbed the closest object, which happened to be a large medical book lying on the shelf.

As I skilfully entered, I could hear the thief groaning. I tiptoed up to him, and found he couldn't see me as he had his head buried deep into my fridge, (I swear, I should have been a ninja or something, because he didn't have a clue that there was another person standing right next to him!)

"Get out of my house, you thief!!" I yelled as I whacked the man on the back with my book.

It gave me quite a bit of pleasure to see him yelp in pain and fall to the floor.

"I'm going to call the… Naruto? What on earth are you doing here?!" I had just noticed the mass of spiky blonde hair that was lying face down on my floor.

"Oh, Sakura-chan, must you always be so mean to me?" Came Naruto's slightly muffled response.

"Get up, you idiot" I said, annoyance creeping into my voice as I pulled him up.

Naruto slowly stood up, (I think it was to try and make me feel guiltier, it wasn't working) and faced me so I could clearly his bright blue eyes.

I put my hands on my hips and said "Care to tell me what you are doing in my apartment at this hour?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head while grinning nervously as he said "Well, you see, I kinda ran out of ramen and I thought 'Sakura-chan might have some' and so I… Hey Sakura-chan, why is your face going all red?"

"You break into my apartment at 10 o'clock…"

"Technically, I have the spare key…"

"AND you stole my spare key just to get some ramen?" I said very darkly.

"Yes?" Naruto squeaked before I punched him in the head.

"I might have forgiven you if it was my company that you were seeking, but RAMEN! I'm going to KILL YOU!" I roared and proceeded to chase him round my (small) apartment.

This is a very regular event, as Naruto is constantly finding new ways to annoy me.

We look like we hate each other, but we are actually very close. After Sasuke's so called betrayal Naruto and I only had each to turn to. That's right; Naruto was one of the Uchiha's best friends as well.

The three of us had known each other basically from birth, (Sasuke the oldest, then Naruto, then me) because our parents were all great friends.

After chasing Naruto for a while, I ran out of energy and flopped onto the chair next to me. Naruto seemed relieved that the scary side of me had calmed down, and sank onto the couch.

"There was also another reason I came here" Naruto said quietly, very out of character as the guy just seemed to always be cheerful.

"I thought you might want to see this" He continued, chucking a screwed up paper ball at me.

I rolled out the paper ball complaining to Naruto that he should take more care with thinks, and he simply shrugged.

On the paper there was an advert for an upcoming concert.

Hebi's concert at Tokyo University.

Uchiha Sasuke was coming here.

Oh damn

* * *

So, what do you think? Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

Chapter 2

"Sakura"

"I know"

"This is the third time this week"

"I know"

"Do you know how many customers we could lose if you're not there to serve them?!" The blonde in front of me seemed to have a vein popping on her forehead.

"Geez, Ino, I was only five minutes late" I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice (failing miserably).

"Those five minutes could have been extremely important; there could've been a big sell to be done"

I rolled my eyes and retorted with "Ino, we work in a _flower shop._"

Ino thought about this for a second "Oh well I guess it couldn't make that much of a difference. What is your excuse this time?"

My eyes dropped to the ground and I stared there for a while before answering her question.

"Naruto came round, he told me that…"

Ino held her hand up in front of my face to stop me from finishing.

"The concert, I know, he told me as well."

I was kind of relieved that I didn't have to explain the story all over again. But, wait a second…

"How many people has Naruto told?"

"Err, well I was with Hinata and Tenten when he told me. I think he mentioned that he had told Shika-kun and Chouji as well. That was all I heard, but knowing Naruto he has probably blurted it out to everyone!"

I felt my blood boil. I was going to kill him.

Ino saw my dark expression and tried to rectify the situation immediately.

"I'm sure he meant no harm, Sakura, I think he just wants everyone to help!" Ino was grinning nervously, so I decided to let her breathe easily again.

"Yeah, well, he should stay out of other people's business" I grumbled, averting my eyes to the side.

Ino let out a sigh of relief; I really don't like talking about the Uchiha Sasuke situation.

Yamanaka Ino has been one of my best friends since middle school. With her long blonde hair, sky blue eyes, pretty face and her ability to speak with anyone with no problem whatsoever, she has always been popular. Of course, as much as I love her, she does have a little vanity problem, and is constantly on ridiculous diets to try and improve her already perfect body. There are times that I don't understand her reasoning's.

"Yeah well," Ino said "Shikamaru, the lazy ass invaded my apartment yesterday because he couldn't be bothered to cook his own meal. He said that now he's at university, he doesn't have his 'troublesome' mother to do it for him, so I will have to do! Can you believe him? And then he had the cheek to insult my cooking! I shouldn't forget the other day he…"

I really can't believe she hasn't noticed that she is totally in love with Shikamaru. No girl can talk about one guy for that length of time without having strong feelings for him.

Even if all Ino was doing was complaining about him.

"Sakura, are you listening to me?"

It seems everyone is saying that to me recently.

"Of course… Actually, no I'm not, what were you saying?"

"I was _saying_ that the stupid idiot has gone and got himself a girlfriend!"

This shocked me back into my senses.

"A girlfriend? Who?"

Ino blew the blonde strand of hair on her face in (unconscious) annoyance.

"She's called Temari or something like that. She's also like, years older than us; I bet she's just toying with him because he's younger."

I studied Ino's face, and I could see her blue eyes following my every movement.

"Just what do you think you are doing?"

I stood back, and replied with a touch of smugness in my voice.

"You, my dear friend, are jealous."

Ino turned red with anger "Je-Jealous?! What p-planet are you on Forehead-girl? Of course I'm not jealous! I'm just annoyed that the lazy idiot can manage to get a girlfriend while spending all day doing _nothing_, while I am still single!"

I knew it. She is so jealous that she's even stuttering.

Ino never stutters. That's Hinata's job.

Then, Ino's last statement sunk in.

"Oh, don't remind me"

My friend looked at me sympathetically "Date not too good I'm assuming"

I dropped my head on the counter and groaned which gave all the answer Ino needed.

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder as she said "Cheer up, we're still young. We've got plenty of time. But until the right man comes around, how about you come over tonight to get royally smashed in a girl's night in to celebrate our singleness!"

With all her faults, Ino sure knows how to cheer me up.

Suddenly, the shop door dinged signifying that a customer had arrived.

Our chat was interrupted, as rush hour for the shop headed in, making us very busy. Before I knew it, it was time to go.

"I'll see you later then Ino-pig" I yelled as I left the shop.

I swear that I could hear her curses at the old nickname all the way down the street.

I work at the Yamanaka flower shop at weekends for money to allow me to eat. It's quite good pay, and the fact that my best friend is my boss helps me get out of sticky situations like being late a few times each week, ha ha.

I'm evil, I know.

* * *

I had a few things I needed to pick up at the shops so, I headed over to the nearest convenience store.

"Hmm, apples or bananas?" I thought to myself out loud as I was staring at the fruit section.

"I'd go with the apples" A voice said which made me jump out of my skin; I had not been expecting an answer.

I turned around to see Shikamaru standing lazily next to me with one hand in his pocket, the other clutching a plastic bag.

"Now this is a surprise, Shikamaru, going shopping? I never thought I'd see the day"

Shikamaru just shrugged "It's not my choice, I was forced."

I snickered "I take it that it was this Temari who sent you here?"

If I hadn't have known the lazy genius for years, I would have missed the slight shock in his eyes that I had known about his new interest.

"So the harpy told you." He stated.

"Hey, don't call Ino that!"

Once again, Shikamaru shrugged, I wish sometimes he could be bothered to answer with _words_.

"It seems Temari's a good influence on you; I've never seen you do any kind of chores without Ino or your mother threatening you."

Shikamaru sighed "They're all as bad as each other."

"What did Ino say when you told her?"

The man looked at me strangely "Would there be any reason why her reaction would be interesting?"

Seriously, everyone is clueless.

I looked at my watch, and yelped at the time. I needed to get over to Ino's soon, and I hadn't even gone home yet.

Shikamaru noticed my reaction, and being the genius he is, worked out I needed go.

Without saying a word, he turned and walked off, sticking his hand out once as something like a wave.

"Yeah, bye to you to"

I quickly picked up the apples and walked to the counter.

As I was paying, the TV above the counter changed to a local news report.

Just so happens it was about Hebi's concert.

Can't I ever have any peace?

I could see the keyboard player, Fujiwara Karin, being interviewed. I never liked her.

I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, so I rushed home to pack.

I grabbed a load of clothes from one of the shelves, and stuffed it into a bag. I didn't bother to check what I'd put in.

After gathering all necessary items, I raced out the house, ready to get very drunk and watch soppy romance movies.

* * *

Ino opened the door with a big smile.

"Forehead-girl, come in, come in. The party is just starting. I hope you don't mind _terribly_, but I invited Hinata to join in with our night of feeling sorry for ourselves."

I laughed and the gloom and depressed feeling from before lifting off right out of my head.

"Of course I don't mind, I haven't been seeing enough of Hinata lately anyway!"

Just as I spoke, the said girl appeared from round the corner.

"Hi S-Sakura" The dark-haired girl said timidly.

Both Ino and I pounced on her, pulling her cheeks whilst shrieking about how cute she was.

This made her go very red, but after years of the same thing going on; she was kind of used to it.

It is our self-proclaimed goal in life to make shy Hyuuga Hinata more confident.

If you think this is bad, you should have seen her a few years ago.

I'm surprised she was still alive for being scared of breathing!

"Right girls, lets get down to business. Sakura needs to unpack" Ino promptly grabbed my bag, and emptied it upside down.

"Ino-pig!" I cried in anger, but before I said anything more, I saw the black book that had just fallen out.

I should really check what I put in my bag.

I haven't looked at that book in years.

I think someone up there hates me. Big time.

* * *

So, that's chapter 2. I'd really like some feed back and tips. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, they were all much appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto!

Chapter 3

Why do things like this keep on happening to me? Is it because I'm not a good person? I do try to be the best that I can. I've got good grades, I don't do drugs, and I've never broken any laws at all (in fact, in school I was terrified if I missed a single homework, so how on earth could I do something that was against the law?)

Whatever the reason why my life seems to be constantly set against me, the three of use were staring at the black book intently.

"Sakura..." Ino said finally, and I wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

"Is that a DIARY?!" Oh God...

"You sly thing, you! How did I not know that you kept a diary?" She then picked up the book and started flicking through it very fastly before I could do anything to stop her.

"Ino! Please, I don't want you-" I tried in vain to stop my loud best friend from discovering the contents of the book.

"Ooh, it's got pictures too, it's like a diary/scrapbook, fabulous!"

"Ino-chan, m-maybe you shouldn't..." Hinata; lovely, sweet and innocent Hinata was my only ally in the matter, but even the both of us couldn't stop Ino when she was on a roll. I doubt she was even listening to a word we were saying.

Suddenly, Ino came to an abrupt halt, but by this time I was already despairing.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura" She said, her tone completely different from before

"I thought this was a diary of now, not... Not _then_."

I breathed out heavily; trying to stop the tears from coming. Whenever I think of my final year of High school I always end up in a state, but I manage not to cry.

"It's okay, don't go gettting all guilty. It's my own fault for not noticing what I dump in my bag."

"Is there anything we can do?" Hinata said with sadness clear in her extremely pale lilac eyes.

Before I could reply with the standard 'no, I'm fine' Ino interrupted me.

"Yes, there is something that we can do"

What could she be thinking? I'm not going to start crying about how terrible my life is, so why couldn't she just leave it alone?

Ino grabbed my hand and then Hinata's afterwards and led us into her bedroom.

I had always loved Ino's bedroom, as it was just so cool!

It was painted white, with a feature wall of bright purple which happened to be her favourite colour.

There was a large window in the corner that looked so pretty in the mornings when the sun shined through it to light up the room. The bed was queen-sized that had been the result of endless begging to her father for money. All of Ino's stuffed animals were lined up in order of size and colour perfecting on top. The rest of the room was arranged similarly, all perfectly organised into a style that suited her personality very well; fashionable and feminine.

I have to say, this was the first time ever that I was _not_ looking forward to being in Ino's room.

The thing is, her room was reserved for those special 'girl talks' that were serious.

"Okay, are you going to tell me what your mysterious plan is now?" I asked trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

Ino nodded, glancing over at Hinata as if trying to give her a secret message.

She breathed deeply, then said "The thing is Sakura, we've known you for a very long time, so both Hinata and I know how you deal with things."

I raised an eyebrow "Have you two been talking about me behind my back?"

Hinata jumped in "Oh no, n-nothing like that! It wasn't s-something bad, we were just t-trying to find a way for you to be happier, especially b-because _you know who_ is c-coming soon."

"So, how do I 'deal with things'?"

"You bottle them up" Ino blurted out quickly "You don't want to cause a fuss, so you just don't talk about it and hope that if you forget your problems they'll go away. But they won't, Sakura, don't you get that? It's like a TV programme I watched the other day, don't roll your eyes, unless you talk about your experiences you'll never be able to find closure!"

"Closure? You've got to be kidding me! Look guys, I appreciate your concern, but I'm _fine_. I don't need any help!"

Hinata shook her head "Yes you do. You just don't realise it yourself. But you've changed, and we want to see the old Sakura again"

Hinata managed to say that without a single stutter, this must be really important to her.

Then, I remembered something.

"You were there! All the way through high school you both were with me! Why do I need to explain it to you when you saw it with your own eyes?!"

Ino laughed a short, humourless laugh before saying "I think that even you should realise that we don't know the whole story. In fact, we didn't know that you were friends with _him_ and Naruto until that last year. After it was all over, it hurt you too much to speak about it, so we didn't pry. But now it's been three years, you need to move on."

I grabbed strands of my hair in frustration, but I knew that they were right.

I did bottle things up.

I hadn't even told my best friends what had happened.

So, now I would.

"Alright" I relented "We can look through my diary; I wrote everything that happened in there"

And that was how we ended up huddled up, with the two other girls awaiting the story eagerly.

"It all started at the beginning of Senior year..."

* * *

**_3 years ago_**

"My name is Haruno Sakura and I live in the town of Konoha" I read out what I had written in the brand new book in front of me.

My Mother has decided that I will keep a record of my final year of school, and so therefore bought me a diary.

She gets so into these little ideas that I don't have the heart to say no to her. So that has left me in the position of writing a diary.

The only thing is, I don't really know what to write.

I mean, I have a pretty ordinary life; a Mother and Father and a nice, average house. My two best friends Ino and Hinata are the best, and I've known them since middle school. That's a start.

Well, I suppose I should mention that I've known Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto since birth.

After I wrote that down, I considered crossing it out. If anyone got hold of this, I would be in trouble.

Sasuke would kill me.

That sounds really bad.

But, to tell the truth, it kind of is. Sasuke and Naruto, but mostly Sasuke, don't want anyone to know that I know them.

Everything was fine at elementary school, I could play with them all I wanted and it was great. It changed at middle school. The two of them went to a separate school to me even though we lived quite close. I suppose it was just where the catchment area ended.

Without the comfort of my old friends, I was forced to make new ones. This was where Ino and Hinata came in. It was quite nice, being with girls for once. I still saw Sasuke and Naruto out of school, so I had the best of both worlds. We all started to grow up, and our true personalities started to shine through the innocence of children.

I think it was my Father who noticed first that I had some brains in the midst of all that pink hair. I could remember things a lot easier than other people, and so started to do well on the tests at school. It was my father who noticed this, and so started to challenge me more. I didn't like to get into trouble, so if we're getting stereotypical I suppose I could classify as a 'geek'.

Naruto had always been energetic, and he turned out to be a very happy individual; even if he was a bit air-headed. He was great at sports as his endless supply of energy and the fact that he would _never_ give up made him ideal for this area. Because he was friends with Sasuke, this made him popular, and as soon as people saw past the loud, boisterous outside, they realised just how _nice_ he was. Even though I wasn't there, I know Naruto basically stayed the same during middle school because I got a step by step account of his day when he got back and came round to my house.

Sasuke, in terms of abilities, was a genius. Though, it wasn't exactly surprising, considering the family he came from. The prestigious Uchiha clan was known for excellence in everything, and Sasuke was no exception. He had to live up to the standards of his older brother, Itachi, afterall. Another gift, or a curse was how Sasuke put it, was his looks. Glossy black hair and matching eyes that contrasted with his pale skin made him an obvious girl-magnet. I realised this at a young age, and apparently, so did he. I think at elementary I was the only girl he ever spoke to, but that changed when he got older.

Of course, I don't actually remember when it was when Sasuke suddenly woke up and realised that he was a boy instead of an ice cube. He had always been quite quiet, laid back and calm, and he stayed like that at home (except when fighting with Naruto). I don't really know what he was like at middle school as he wasn't like Naruto who gave huge descriptions, but I didn't really care what he acted like at school as long as everything was fine at home.

Konoha High School was huge and took everyone from the surrounding area, meaning that we were all going to be together. I couldn't wait to introduce my new friends to Sasuke and Naruto.

It didn't turn out like that, though.

I guess I really should have noticed the difference in my childhood friend earlier, but I honestly thought that everything was fine.

But on the first day of school when I bounded over to Sasuke in my full clumsy and geeky glory, he ignored me as if I was a mindless fangirl.

I was unbelievably hurt. I can't describe it in words.

Just to add salt to the wounds, Naruto didn't speak to me as well. Naruto! The one who talked to _everyone_!

Atleast with him, however, I could see the pained look in his eyes as he brushed past me to meet Sasuke, who didn't even look fazed.

It made me wonder how much I truly knew him at all.

It was only then that I noticed the people they were with.

The tallest was a strongly built boy with light brown spikey hair, with some purple markings on his face with what looked like make-up. The one next to him had a simialar haircut; spikey but with a darker brown hair and two red traiangles under his eyes. Were these people obsessed with putting stuff on their faces?

Another one had long dark hair and eyes that looked just like Hinata's, but a lot colder. Maybe they were related or something, I had thought. Also, there was a guy with a hood pulled over his head and dark glasses on which left barely any of his face showiing, making it a bit... creepy.

The last one, though, was in a completely different league to the others. He had spiked up red hair and sea foam coloured eyes that had a terrifying look to them. They were wild, crazy, and maybe even murderous, and that was just from one glance. He was dangerous.

And _these_ were the people my friends chose to hang out with?!

I had wanted an explanation and I had wanted one fast.

When I confronted Sasuke at his house that night, he had run his hand through his hair as if it was difficult to explain.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Sakura" he had said "But I really don't want you to get involved with those people"

I had questioned of course, about why he got involved with them in the first place, and he had said that at first he thought it cool and now he couldn't get out.

I shouldn't have let him off so easily, but I felt slightly proud that he was trying to protect me; it wasn't every day you could say that about Uchiha Sasuke.

So that was how I spent the rest of High School up to now: pretending that I have never spoken to Sasuke in my life.

Okay, so maybe I had more to write down than I originally thought.

* * *

That's chapter 3 out then! I want to thank all those who reviewed :BeautifulMoonlitRose, ToraHimeSama, OXPrimrosexAngelXO, LoveIsMyHate, deedee2034, Crimson Flash Kunoichi, COULK, and thanks to candyluver for the advice, I hope I improved! Please r+r!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

Sorry it's a bit late, I was on holiday!

Chapter 4

3 years ago

8th April 

I woke up this morning before my alarm had even rung. I am one of those really strange people who seem to be able to wake up early. My friends all think that I am some kind of monster, because, excluding Hinata, all of them are painfully bad morning people.

Take Ino for example, there was a time that I slept over at her house but had to leave early in the morning.

Being the good friend I am I woke her up to say goodbye.

Not so good idea.

Her usually so perfect appearance was quite obviously dishevelled, and her eyes were all red and bloodshot.

Then the rant came. That's what you get for trying to be thoughtful.

Naruto, he just refuses to wake up. I'm being very truthful when I say that you can scream in his ear and he will remain fast asleep.

I'm not even going to bother to describe Sasuke. Just know that it is bad. Real bad.

Moving on, today was my last first day of school (that is something I never get tired of saying!)

I met up with Ino and Hinata at the front gates after walking the last stretch.

I always catch a ride with either Naruto or Sasuke because although I am perfectly capable of driving myself, my father sees no reason in my owning a car when I have two perfectly good chauffeurs.

"Forehead-girl! Finally, I've been waiting for you for _ages_" Ino yelled at me.

At Hinata's face I realised that she was exaggerating. Again.

"Don't m-mind Ino, Sakura-chan, we've only been here for about 2 minutes" Hinata said while glaring at Ino who just shrugged uncaringly.

"Minute shminute, no one cares. But I am desperate to catch up with all the new gossip; I've just been deprived over the holidays!"

I rolled my eyes at her typical behaviour, and watched as Sasuke and Naruto walked past where we were standing.

Sasuke glanced over at me briefly before turning back to Naruto, and I knew that was his way of saying 'see ya'.

At least, at school.

I had long gotten over the feeling of hurt that came with the act I had to put up at school.

"Oh my God, did you just see Uchiha Sasuke look at me?! I knew it! I _knew_ it!! There's no way anyone can resist my charms, and he's already been out with half the school's girl population." Ino almost yelled triumphantly.

Usually, this would be the part where Hinata would come in and reassure the blonde of whatever crazy things she announced. However, Hinata was surprisingly silent, so I looked over to see if everything was okay.

Hinata's beautiful pale eyes were abnormally wide and a deep blush contrasted with her usually pale skin.

I followed her gaze to see just in time my childhood friends round a corner.

I snapped my head back to Hinata "You don't like Sasuke as well do you?"

Nooooo! I screamed in my head, my only sane friend had fallen victim to the Sasuke spell.

I swore that as soon as got home I was going to smash that pretty head up so badly that he could never bewitch anyone again, but Hinata's violent shaking of her head stopped my plotting.

"Oh no no no!" she yelled (as close to yelling as Hinata could get) "Not Sasuke, he scares me a lot"

It took a moment for me to register what that meant, but Ino beat me to it.

"NARUTO?? You like _Naruto_?" The look of complete shock on her face made me want to stand up for my friend, but once again I was beaten to it.

"Don't look so surprised, Ino. Naruto is very handsome, funny and nice despite some of the people he hangs around with. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the most popular boy in school, if Sasuke wasn't here. So get over it and shut up!"

There was a silence between the three of us as Hinata clamped a hand firmly to her mouth.

"Whoa" I finally said "I think you've got it bad"

The mouse-like girl looked like she was going to faint, but somehow managed to recover from her sudden outburst.

She then grinned up at us "I don't think I've ever done that before!"

"Hinata's finally lost her temper, yes!" Ino cheered, as she always found it disturbing how her friend was just so… nice.

"When did this happen then" I added, getting back to the matter.

Hinata's face became flushed "In the holidays, I got a job in a café, even though my father disproved. I managed to convince him by saying that it would look good on my applications if I had some work experience."

Ino nodded her head "Mm, yes, carry on and get to the good bit"

"Well" the dark-haired girl continued "it turned out that this café is in the neighbourhood where Naruto lives. Actually, it's near where _you_ live, Sakura. Did you know Naruto lives right near you?"

I shook my head, trying to appear innocent. Luckily, Hinata carried on with the tale.

"Naruto came into the café everyday when he was on his runs. He seems to have no limits to his energy! He would pop in for a quick snack and then was on his way again. I don't think he recognised me from school, but he would smile at me every morning."

I didn't mention the fact that Naruto knows full well who she was; after all, she was my best friend.

"There was one girl giving me a hard time, Midori, and she was being particular unfair, and he stood up for me! Sent Midori running in shame!" The proud look on Hinata's face made me giggle a bit.

"And let me guess" Ino butted in "you've been head over heels ever since?"

Hinata ducked her head and nodded.

Ino smirked and I knew she was planning something.

"Ino" I said warningly, but as usual, Ino ignored the warning.

"Well that only leaves one option…" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "we tell him!"

Hinata gasped, her eyes huge with fear, and she shook her head violently "No, no way, not a chance, please Ino, I'm begging you, no no!"

"Come on, Hinata; don't be a baby, how could he resist you?"

I was staying silent so far; I knew Ino wouldn't really go tell Naruto. It was just part of her grand plan to make Hinata braver. I think.

"It's alright for you to say that Ino; you're beautiful and brave and boys are interested in you. If you wanted to, you could become really popular."

It was true; Ino had all the qualities that were needed to be popular. Apart from the fact that she was unbelievably beautiful, she was also bold and could speak to anyone like they were her best friend.

I wasn't saying that she had never tried, either.

When we first entered high school, she was easily singled out as a popular girl and people flocked to her. However, she found that her new found status was pushing her away from her very best friends.

So, she gave it up. Everything. I hadn't realised how wonderful a friend she truly was until that moment.

She prepared herself for a life of invisibility for her two friends unsuited for a life of popularity.

"So what, Hinata? So what if you're a little shy, Naruto's got enough bravery for the both of you. He's perfect now that I think about it! Yes, this shall be my new mission. Operation: Get Hinata and Naruto together!"

"Okay, that's going too far. Come on already you guys, we have to get to class, and I'm sure Hinata's probably exhausted from all this arguing." With that, I set off, and I smiled when the two of them caught up with me.

When we arrived at our homeroom, we sat in the places we always occupied; in the middle by the window.

As always, Sasuke, Naruto and their 'crew' were at the back.

So here we all were again, in our last school year.

It better be good.

* * *

Present

"Sakura" Ino said, dumb-struck "How do you remember every single event like that? Are you some kind of machine?"

I managed a short giggle while shaking my head "No Ino, photographic memory, remember? And anyway, it helped my vent my anger sometimes to write it all down"

Ino simply rolled her eyes and muttered "nerd" then turned back to the book.

Hinata was flicking through it quickly "Nothing really happened until the birthday party, did it? I don't see the point in reading it all if it's all going to be as long as that."

Ino looked hard at me and I shrugged nervously.

"Here we are, July 23rd" Hinata revealed, and all of us peered over the little black book once again.

* * *

3 years ago

23rd July

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Ino asked for the millionth time, and once again I replied with the same answer.

"Alright then, it's your loss. Hurry up and drive, Shika-kun!" Ino waved goodbye.

I couldn't help but laugh at Shikamaru's grumbling at Ino's bossiness, and I could still hear Ino's screams at him from down the street. Those two didn't realise just how perfect they were for each other.

Where were they going? Uchiha Sasuke's birthday party, that's where. One of the biggest events of the year.

Sasuke always rented out a big venue, this year it was a classy hotel, and basically every teenager in the whole of Konoha attended it. After Naruto's (not so surprising to me because I got Naruto to finally notice) asking out of Hinata it was obvious that even she was going. So, every teenager, except Haruno Sakura.

But what most people didn't know was that Uchiha Kokoro was going instead in her place.

It was the one night a year where I could actually be associated with my two childhood friends, all I had to do was put on a wig and contacts, and voila, the cousin of the school heart throb had appeared.

Every year I came to watch out for the other two, as they usually got a bit out of hand.

Oh yeah, at Uchiha Sasuke's birthday there was a _lot_ of alcohol.

After getting into my disguise, I looked into the mirror, liking what I saw. It felt good to be a different person for once; my skin was being good tonight and the black hair and eyes looked good against my pale skin. The daring red dress I wore seemed to make my figure look great, and for once I wasn't under the barrier that good girl Sakura provided.

Tonight, I was the cousin of Uchiha Sasuke.

Itachi came to pick me up, as his parents had put him in charge of supervising his little brother's party.

The thing was, Itachi got into the party just as much as Sasuke, and liked bugging his brother by seeing how much attention he could steal.

Sasuke couldn't believe how I could possibly like his brother, and it was simply because Itachi had always been a perfect gentleman to me.

The party was amazing, as always. I found Naruto almost straight away, and so was 'introduced' to his girlfriend Hyuuga Hinata and their friends Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru.

I spent the most of the night with them, and they found that they liked Kokoro very much.

Naruto was grinning at me nearly all the time so I was so sure of being found out. Luckily, Hinata was too infatuated with Naruto and Ino too drunk to see the real resemblance between Kokoro and their best friend.

Towards half two in the morning, the party started to end, so I went to find Sasuke.

I hadn't had any drink, because I knew that it was now my mission to find and drive home the famous Uchiha.

When I finally found him, I really wished that I hadn't.

He was surrounded by his friends and a lot of girls, a beer in one hand and a… right then I forgot all my nervousness about his friends and dived into the crowd in a rage.

When I got near him, the one with the triangle, Kiba, whistled at me, and although I was a bit shocked because I didn't get that kind of attention usually, I ignored him.

"Sasuke, we're going" I commanded and grabbed his arm.

He must have seen the raging look in my eyes, so he didn't resist, or he might have just have been too drunk.

A few of his friends sniggered at the Uchiha getting pulled away by his cousin, but I didn't care. I did feel a bit nervous when I spotted the most dangerous of the lot, Gaara, leaning on the wall near the door, his red hair still obvious in the dim light.

His strange eyes followed me as I left, and made me feel like they saw through me. He was scary.

When we got outside, I got a clear look at Sasuke and what he was holding.

"Sasuke" I said darkly "not only are you incredibly drunk, but you have been _smoking as well_! I can't believe you!!"

Sasuke flicked the cigarette away, not answering, and staggered towards his car. Well, two could play at that game.

I jumped into the driver's seat and snatched the keys from him.

After a while of driving, the Uchiha spoke to me, in slightly slurred speech.

"Are you mad at me, Sakura?"

When Sasuke was drunk he always seemed more childlike, and now he sounded like a little boy in trouble.

"What do you think?" I snapped.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly, so un-Sasuke like, it made me softer.

"Don't you realise that you were getting totally out of control there, Sasuke? You know that I hate it when you get smashed and you went one step further. For all I know you could be getting high all the time with those idiots you call your friends. I suppose this is a regular occurrence?" The more I spoke, the angrier I got again.

Sasuke looked away.

I growled and pulled into the side. Then I turned to him.

"You've got to stop this, right now" although I knew he wouldn't "you're my best friend, and you're scaring me. You're really scaring me. The person I saw in there was not the Sasuke I know"

I found memories of all the good times I'd had with him and Naruto flying through my head. When we went to the beach, the first time at a theme park, learning to ride bikes together, and these were only a few.

"Is Naruto getting dragged into this risk taking?"

Sasuke shrugged and said "Sometimes, he usually just stays out of it, too wimpy"

I could feel tears building up behind my eyes. Even in his drunken state, he could see I was upset.

"Come on, Sakura, I don't like it when girls… when you cry… hiccup… please" I could really see now that he wasn't in a right state of mind, but I still allowed him to lean over me.

I turned my head to look into those deep pools of black and realised just how close he was to me.

"You're much p-prettier than… than what I thought" he said, stumbling over words.

And then he kissed me.

* * *

Present 

"Then what? What happened next Sakura?!" Ino shrieked at me.

"Nothing; he passed out and I drove him home. I'm not sure if he even remembered it the next day."

"But you did" Hinata spoke so softly it was almost a whisper.

"Yes" Oh yeah, I remembered. Even when he was drunk, Sasuke was still the best kisser I'd ever known.

My heart hadn't stopped pounding for ages afterwards.

A moment of silence passed, which was then interrupted by Ino.

"Oh my God, you've got to read this…"

* * *

**Chapter 4 is up, finally. I would love feedback, so please review to tell me what you think. **

**(Even if it's terrible, but I hope not!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

Chapter 5 

"Oh my God, you've got to read this."

I rolled my eyes at Ino's eager expression "What have you found now?"

Ino grinned and pushed the diary towards me. I looked down, and almost laughed at what I saw.

"Come on, this is hardly something to get all excited about."

Hinata leaned over my shoulder to see what all the commotion was about, and giggled slightly.

My blonde friend frowned at us "It _so is_ something to be excited about! I mean, it's our leading parts in all this. I am not amused at how little my name is mentioned in this."

I was sorely tempted to roll my eyes again but instead I just said "Ino, you are mentioned loads of times. It's just you being a drama queen and wanting all of the attention!"

Being the proud girl she is, Ino simply sniffed and turned her head away. This made me feel guilty.

"Look, hey, I shouldn't have…" I was then interrupted.

"I'm just joking, Sakura, don't get your panties in a twist." She said, her blue eyes sparkling with laughter.

I let out a sigh of relief, then remembering the matter a hand.

"Do we really have to read this part? It isn't exactly a key event."

The hard glare I got from Ino told me my answer. I turned to my other best friend, who was smiling nervously.

"Actually, Sakura-chan, I kind of want to r-read this to. You did act quite strangely; it might be f-fun to see what you were thinking."

I gave in. I had to, and it wasn't going to kill me.

Embarrass me, yes. Physically harm me, no.

"Alright then, get on with it already."

The other two grinned in triumph and greedily looked down.

3 years ago 

14th November 

The day started out very normal.

Being Saturday, Ino, Hinata and I went out shopping in town.

"Ino, Christmas is more than a month away, you don't need to start shopping for it now."

"Sakura, if I needed your opinion I would have asked for it. You don't know what it's like being me, if anything I need more than a month and a bit. I have to get everyone great presents, and I have about a million cousins! After that, I've still got you guys and Chouji, and if I'm feeling really generous I _might_ consider getting something for the lazy ass." It was here that Hinata and I shared knowing smiles; Ino would always get Shikamaru something under the pretence of 'being generous'.

"Hinata's got a bigger family than you and you don't see her freaking out!"

The shy, dark-haired girl blushed at being brought into the little fight.

"Well, Hinata's much too nice to complain about it. I seem to remember _you_, my dear pink-haired friend, 'freaking out' as you call it, in the week before Christmas. And that, may I remind you, was just for us and your single cousin." Ino laughed at the scowl imprinted on my face after her little speech.

"Yeah, well," I growled "Kasumi is very hard to buy for."

I was, of course, talking about my 16 year old cousin, who I was very close to.

Her Dad was my Dad's brother, and both shared the bright red hair that had given me my pink colour.

Kasumi, on the other hand, had gotten more of an orange shade of hair, but otherwise looked very similar to me.

In reality, getting Kasumi a present was quite easy; it was my other friends that were difficult.

Yes, that's right, Sasuke and Naruto.

I wanted to get them the best presents possible, and it usually ended with me completely stressed out.

But since both my two girl pals didn't know about my friendship with the two popular boys, it looked like I was making a big deal out of buying presents for a very limited amount of people.

"_Sure_" Ino said slyly, and for a second I thought that she knew something, but Hinata got in before I could reply.

"Come on, g-guys, I'm t-tired, can we go now?"

I smiled and agreed with her, heading out of the mall and towards the car.

Hinata's stylish and sensible navy blue BMW was always the car of our choice, as well as Hinata being the driver.

Up until recently I hadn't had my license, and Ino drove like a mad woman so we decided it would be safer just to let Hinata do her thing.

It was my turn to hold our Saturday tradition at my house, and so we headed off towards my neighbourhood.

The tradition was to go out shopping, then head to someone's home and pig out whilst watching movies all afternoon. It may seem a little sad, but hey, we weren't popular girls who had a party to go to every second.

So, as I said, it was my turn, and my parents had said that they were going away for the weekend this morning, so we would have the house all to ourselves.

So you can imagine the shock I got when I saw the light on in the kitchen.

Maybe I should explain. My Mum is an energy freak, and does everything in her power to stop wastage.

I once got grounded for a week for leaving my TV on standby. Ridiculous, I know.

When I saw that light on in the kitchen, I immediately knew someone was there, after all, my Mother would never allow a light to remain on whilst she went out.

"I thought you said no one was home, Sakura?" Ino asked curiously.

I laughed nervously while saying "Oh I bet my Dad just left the light on." Thank God I've never mentioned my parent's obsession before, even though I've been tempted to complain loads of times.

Both Hinata and Ino accepted my answer and headed towards the door. I quickly ran in front of them, and noticed that the door was already open when I put the key in.

"You two go upstairs and choose a movie; I'll go get the food." Ino nodded and headed upstairs at my suggestion, but Hinata lingered.

"Do you want any help?" She asked kindly.

"No, no, you go on." I said, my mind screaming at her to just go up the stairs.

"Are you sure?"

'Damn it Hinata! Stop being so nice!' were what my thoughts at that moment were.

What I really said was "Absolutely, now go help Ino."

When her quiet footsteps faded away upstairs, I headed towards the kitchen.

I wasn't quite sure what I would find, so I took light steps so not to be heard.

I tried to open the door silently, but it was just my luck that it creaked loudly.

I could see a figure in the room get up from the crack in the door. I was ready to attack when a deep voice stopped me.

"Sakura, you can come out, it's only me."

I breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, thank God, Sasuke. I thought that there was a murderer in here." Then it hit me.

"SASUKE?! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm babysitting. What, aren't you glad to see me?" He asked sarcastically.

"Don't be an idiot, I'm always… Hey, I don't need babysitting!!"

"Your parents seem to think you do." He said casually while sitting back down at the table to continue what he was doing. Which was eating a sliced up tomato. Yuck.

I pinched my lips together and frowned at the idea of babysitting. My parents didn't even trust me for one night!

"Well," I said quietly, almost hissing, "I don't need someone looking after me for one night, so you don't have a job!"

Sasuke just raised a dark eyebrow at me.

"Stop looking at me like that!" I wanted to stamp my foot here "It's not only that, but Ino and Hinata are here as well."

This got him slightly more interested in what I was saying, rather than focusing on his tomato.

"Tell them to go away then." He said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"I can't do that!" I almost yelled but then remembered that I had to be quiet.

"Why not?"

"Because it's Saturday and tradition for us and we haven't had a sleep over for ages. My Mum and Dad aren't here so it is perfect! I'm not alone, so you can go home now. After all, it's you that doesn't want anyone to know we're friends." I said the last bit quite bitterly.

"You're being annoying, Sakura."

"I know, so get out of here before they see you."

"Can't."

"Why ever not?"

"Because my parents have gone with yours as well as Naruto's to this hotel or whatever and since I promised to baby-sit you, they took the house keys."

"Oh well this is just great."

"Hey Sakura, are you alright down there?" Ino's voice came from upstairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I called back up.

I could hear Ino coming down the stairs, and I panicked.

I pushed Sasuke off his chair and under the counter, and then climbed on his chair myself.

I knew he would be cross with me, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Really?" Ino said as she walked into the room. She then raised her eyebrow at me.

"What are you doing?"

"Eating a tomato."

"You hate tomatoes."

"I don't anymore."

Ino wasn't convinced, but just said "Yeah, well, just remember we're going to be eating lots tonight so don't fill up. I'll help you carry some stuff."

Ino walked over to the fridge and when her head was in it I turned to Sasuke. I gestured for him to go upstairs after we'd gone, and stay in his room (one of the guest rooms he'd claimed) so he wouldn't be seen.

Although he didn't look happy about it, he nodded.

I then went to help Ino carry the food upstairs.

A few minutes after we had all settled down in my room to watch the movie Ino had chosen, I heard the sound of the door opposite the hall closing very quietly. I hadn't even heard him coming up the stairs.

Stealthy, Sasuke, real stealthy.

I thought that all my problems were over, but it was all going to get a lot worse.

First of all, about an hour into the movie, Ino suddenly goes "Sakura, who is 'us' and 'un'?"

Both Hinata and I stared at her like she was mad, which she probably was.

But then I noticed what she had in her hand: my phone.

"INO!" I shrieked "You don't go through other people's stuff like that!"

"Geez, calm down, I didn't look at your messages I was just looking at your contacts."

I then realised what she meant. When she said 'us' she meant U.S. the initial of Uchiha Sasuke, and 'un' was U.N. for Uzumaki Naruto.

This was exactly the reason why I didn't put their full names in phone in the first place.

I knew sooner or later Ino would get nosey. As always.

"They're just some people my parents know." I said, brushing it off as if it wasn't important.

Before Ino could say anything else, I heard a car drive up. I looked out of my window, and was ready to kill someone.

Namely, the Uchiha in the next room.

"I'll just go see who that is." I was talking whilst running out of the room.

"Sasuke," I spoke in a low voice "why is Naruto outside?"

The Uchiha just shrugged and said "I told you his parents had gone with ours."

I groaned "Does everyone just automatically think that when the adults go away they should crash at my place?!"

"Basically, yeah."

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto bellowed from downstairs.

I slapped my forehead; trust Naruto to be so loud.

I could hear the voices in the next room talking in surprise.

Hinata obviously left the bedroom and walked to the top of the stairs.

"Naruto-kun? Is that you?"

"Hinata-chan! What… a surprise to see you here!" I could almost see Naruto downstairs grinning nervously.

"Err, I'm k-kind of w-wondering t-the s-same thing." Hinata said, the stutters in her voice becoming more obvious."

Then…

Present 

"Okay, that's enough of that one." I said firmly, closing the diary at the same time.

Ino whined "But Sakura, we were just getting to the best bit!" I shook my head.

"It's a long, long story and you know everything that happens after that. You just want to embarrass me."

Ino grinned cheekily "Why would I want to do that?" Ino was using her 'oh so innocent' voice.

Even Hinata was laughing. "I have to admit Sakura, seeing little, quiet Haruno Sakura yelling and then attacking _the_ Uchiha Sasuke was something to remember."

"How do you remember it?! You passed out!"

This caused Hinata to blush "I saw a bit of it."

"Seeing you squirm while explaining the story was also good." Ino was in her evil mode.

"Yeah well, we're moving on. I think it's time."

"Are you ready?" Hinata asked, placing her hand on my arm comfortingly.

"Yes."

3 years ago 

28th December 

Today was officially the worst day of my life.

I am not being a drama queen either, I literally feel like my heart has been ripped out.

I have been so happy recently, I suppose because of Christmas. I was asking for a fall.

I was just browsing the shops; after all, everything is so much cheaper once Christmas is over.

Seeing Gaara and his gang was not on my agenda.

Once again, I wish that I had a car. If I did, I could've just driven past them without them even noticing me. As it was, I had to walk past them in order to get home.

I tried to keep my head down, hoping that they wouldn't recognise me as I wasn't exactly well known.

I should have known that was never going to happen. Gaara knows _everyone_.

"Well, what do we have here?" He said in that horribly cold voice of his.

His friends looked towards me, and grinned at each other. I tried to walk past them, but Kiba blocked my path.

"I know you; you're in my biology class. What is it, Sakuno?"

"Sakura!" I spat back, and instantly regretted it. They all just laughed at me.

"So behind that head of pink hair there's a little spunk, well, whaddya know." I couldn't tell who said that as they all were crowding in on me.

I tried to run, but Gaara grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alley off the main street. I was alone with them.

"Don't try to run; it'll only make things worse." He whispered into my ear. I was shivering with fright.

"There you guys are," a familiar voice said "Naruto can't make it 'cause he's… What's going on here?"

Sasuke had arrived. Everything was going to be okay now.

Relief flooded over me, and I was stupid to think that Gaara wouldn't notice.

He looked from me to Sasuke, saying "Hey, Uchiha, do you know this girl?"

Sasuke looked at me, and it scared me how cold and uninterested his eyes looked. He wouldn't…

"Never seen her before." My blood ran cold.

Gaara grinned and pushed me towards him. "I was going to hurt her myself, but you can do the honours. Unless… you don't want to?" Gaara was taunting him, I knew it. He wanted to see how Sasuke would react.

"I don't hit girls." Sasuke spoke again, and it seriously worried me how I was not sure what he would do.

"She can hardly be called a girl," Gaara scoffed whilst looking down at my old clothes and messy hair.

Sea-foam eyes stared at Sasuke and he turned to me instead.

I saw the punch before it hit me, but I still wasn't prepared for the pain. My green eyes looked up into Sasuke's black ones, the betrayal clearly showing in them.

Not only was the physical pain bad, but the emotional as well.

Together, I might as well have been shot instead of just punched in the stomach.

For a fleeting second, I thought I saw horror flash through Sasuke's eyes at what he had just done.

But then it was gone, and the cold façade was back.

All of his friends laughed when I sank to the floor, unable to breathe with the wind knocked out of me.

Gaara seemed satisfied, after seeing Sasuke punch me like that, you could not doubt that he had never noticed me ever before. What friend would do that?

_Yeah, what friend?_

I lay there on the floor for a while until the gang of boys decided to leave. I watched them walk away, and my so called 'friend' glanced around slightly before carrying on walking.

It was just proven what meant more to Sasuke: his reputation over his best friend.

So that was what all those years of friendship was worth. A punch in the stomach and a glance of remorse.

'_Fine_' I thought viciously '_fine_'.

The Present 

Silence filled the room.

My throat was burning, and it felt like there was a huge lump in it that prevented me from speaking.

Eventually, I found my voice again.

"Well, you all know what happened next. I never spoke to him again. When Naruto found out, he was so furious that he stopped talking to Sasuke as well. Before we had even graduated, Sasuke just disappeared, and I later found out from my Mother that he had gained a record deal."

"Oh, Sakura." Hinata looked at me with her white eyes and I could see the pain she was going through on my behalf.

Ino was staring at the wall, her eyes blank.

It was then I realised: I had not cried at all.

In fact, now that I had gotten over the initial pain, everything seemed to matter less.

I actually felt… happy.

So I started laughing.

"Sakura?" Hinata asked, her eyes searching mine.

"It's alright!" I laughed "for the first time in years it's actually alright!"

I couldn't describe how wonderful the feeling was, but I knew that going through the story with my friends had lightened the load.

Maybe Ino was right after all. For once.

I gathered my friends in a tight hug; I had found my closure.

Now, I was moving on.

Or at least, I thought that I was…

* * *

**Longest Chapter yet! I felt really sad writing this chapter. Thank you so much to all those who reviewed, I loved every comment! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. If you're reading this please take a little of your time to place a review, it would be much appreciated.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Can't Let Go Chapter 6 **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto  
**

Classes were always tough. It was just something that I had gotten used to whilst being at Tokyo University.

Everyone was extremely competitive with each other so I couldn't afford to be quiet, Haruno Sakura who blended into the background any longer.

I had a natural affinity towards medical sciences, so I excelled. My professor adored me.

There were plenty of bad things about the place, but, there were also plenty of good things.

Tenten was one of the good things.

She was originally in most of my classes until she switched her focus to History of weaponry.

We remained good friends, however, and sometimes it is nice to speak with someone I trust who doesn't know about all the problems of the past.

"Hey Sakura, what's up?" She greeted me casually when I sat at her table in the café.

"Nothing really, just wanted to catch up. How's your course going?"

Tenten's brown eyes lit up at the sound of that "Oh you have no idea. I know you're into all that blood and guts stuff, but it just doesn't seem to do it for me. I can have both: The cool pointy weapons and the blood and guts as a result of them. I just learnt today that a…"

I stopped her with a look showing that I _really_ didn't want to know and she just grinned.

"How can you be a doctor if you're squeamish?" She teased.

"Hey, look," I protested "Just because I fix peoples' wounds doesn't mean I want to know how they got them. That's just too far."

We joked around for a while but then Tenten just had to bring up the dreaded subject.

"You're going to Hebi's concert right?"

"Nope."

Tenten just stared at me with her mouth wide open.

"Why the HELL not?!"

I shrugged "Just don't wanna. Is that a problem?" My eyebrow was raised high on my forehead.

"Well, _yeah_," Tenten was flabbergasted, "It has got to be the biggest event since… forever!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, not everyone likes Hebi. I personally think that they're overrated."

"But… But Uchiha Sasuke is just so… HOT!"

"And that automatically must make me like his music?" I found it extremely funny watching her struggle for an answer.

I took pity on her and changed the subject. "How's life with Mr Hinata's cousin?" Tenten's face immediately turned to that of one who is extremely lovesick.

"_Wonderful_." Her girlish tone, that didn't suit tomboy Tenten at all, was enough to make me sick.

I had set Tenten up with Hyuuga Neji when Hinata had complained on her cousin's lack of love life. Tenten was a great influence of the stoic Neji and, what was more important was, he respected her. It took a lot for the Hyuuga to admit that to anyone.

"I know I was the one to set you up and all, but I don't really see what you see in him. Seems too cold for my liking."

"He is not!" Tenten cried in outrage, "He is amazing! Sure, it took a while to break down his cold exterior, but when I did he became the best, _warm_ boyfriend ever! And even if he is cold sometimes, cold men are HOT!"

"So that's why Uchiha Sasuke is 'hot' then?"

"Exactly!"

I laughed at my friends wild way of thinking and finished off the last of my coffee.

"I better be off then. I'll see you later, OK?"

"Sure, sure. Even though I think you're utterly mad not going to the concert."

"Bye Tenten."

Laughing quietly to myself I exited the café. Now that I was getting on with my life, things seemed so much clearer.

Why had I been so blind to it before? It sounds terribly cliché and movie worthy, but it is honestly true.

Life had so much to enjoy!

The street that I had to walk down to get to my apartment was unusually busy, and I was confused at the huddle of people that were surrounding the Italian place where they did the best cheese and tomato pizza I have ever eaten.

"OH MY GOD! THERE HE IS!!!" A woman shrieked in such a high pitch that I truly believed my eardrums were going to burst.

I turned my head slowly.

I think I knew, before I saw the person, who it was.

It's obvious, right?

Yes, it was Sasuke.

Pictures just don't do him justice. He is amazingly handsome. Many people would say he has no flaws, but I know better.

He has a small scar under his eyebrow where Naruto hit him with a branch when they were playing 'war'.

He is slightly short-sighted, but would never consent to getting glasses. If his eyesight has gotten any worse he probably uses contacts.

Then there is the obvious personality issue. He is certainly not perfect.

I hate him.

Oh God, I'm thinking about him.

Oh my word I thought I had gotten over him.

Geez, I sound like a stalker with all the things that I know about him.

Flipping heck, I think I'm hyper ventilating.

I will not swear. I will not swear.

Oh my god, Uchiha Sasuke is standing a couple of metres away from me. UCHIHA SASUKE!

I'm a fan girl. Great, another thing to add to the list of embarrassing things that I am doing.

I walked away. I walked as fast as my legs could carry me.

I'm just not ready to face this kind of thing. I am over him, yes, but being over him when I am a thousand miles away and being over him when he is _standing just in front of me _are extremely different things.

Unfortunately, it just so happened that to get to my apartment you had to travel round the crowd of screaming fans.

I tried to go by unnoticed, but suddenly, a woman came bursting out from the mess of people and bumped head on into me. She tripped and fell, but I managed to get my balance before I could fall on the floor. I though I was lucky, until I saw just exactly who this woman was.

Red hair. Red eyes. Glasses. Provocative dress. There was no doubt about it, this woman was Fujiwara Karin.

"You STUPID GIRL!" She screamed at me "How dare you trip ME up?!"

I realised that angering thins woman further was probably not the best of plans, so I tried apologising.

"I'm so sorry, I never meant…"

"Do you think I give a damn about what you meant? You're probably just wanting publicity just like the rest of these blood sucking vultures who are desperate for Sasuke-kun's attention. You are disgusting." She spat the words at me in such a vile tone that I couldn't help but be angry back.

"For your information, you were the one who ran into _me, and, _all I want to do is get home to my apartment which just so happens to be down this road. So gladly keep your false accusation to yourself." I was vicious and I couldn't help but let my previous dislike for the keyboard player affect the way I spoke to her. But then again, she had only lived up to everything I had judged about her.

"What's going on here?" A deep voice said from beside where me and Fujiwara were standing.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that this was all some sort of bad dream.

These sorts of things do not happen in real life.

The world is a big place. If you decide never to speak or see them again you probably won't.

So, _why does this keep happening to me_?!

"Sasuke-kun, this _girl, _first attacks and then insults me without any reason. She deserves to rot in a jail cell or…"

"Karin."

The red head jumped at the man's voice. She stopped speaking immediately.

"Let's go."

Always straight to the point. He probably hasn't changed much then. A shame.

I could not bring myself to look at his face. I've changed so much since high school, but I couldn't be doing with the trouble that would follow should he recognise me.

"Okay." Fujiwara was obviously infatuated with her band mate and started to walk away.

The crowd of fans were still obsessing over the other two band mates but many were looking for their hero.

"Hn." This familiar sound was too much for me, I had to look up. I couldn't help it, my body acted against me.

I saw his black hair and pale skin, his tall frame and broad shoulders that had developed since his days of being a teenager.

All the feelings that had faded since I had gained my closure came rushing back to me.

No, no, no! I would not be so weak as to just fall to him.

My heart stopped when he looked up to see the woman that was causing his friend so much trouble.

His eyes. Still as black as the night. Still some of the most beautiful eyes I had seen on a guy.

But they showed no recognition. No sign, however small, that he knew me.

He had such an emotionless mask that it was hard for me to believe anything other than the fact that when he had left school that day he had not given me a second thought.

It felt worse than when he punched me in the stomach.

I never meant anything to him, huh?

Well, screw this.

I turned and walked swiftly away without turning back once.

I am not a teenager anymore. I will not be broken. I am not weak.

I'm not going to wallow in self-pity. Cause the truth of the matter is, my life is not that bad at all.

I've got a job. I've got friends. I'm on a great course at a great university.

I'm sick of sounding like a broken record.

I've moved on. End of.

I got far away from the crowd and Fujiwara and Hebi and _Sasuke. _

I could finally breathe easily.

So, I've seen him once again, I suppose it is a good thing. Now if I ever accidentally walk anywhere near where he is I will not feel the terror I felt a couple of minutes ago.

I could not stop the feeling of rejection building up inside my chest, even to the best of my efforts.

I hate him.

There is nothing he can do to change that.

He has lost my trust and I hold grudges.

It's not like I'll ever speak to him anyway.

He's a celebrity. I'm a nobody.

"Did you honestly think that I was just going to let you walk away like that?" A slightly out of breath voice said from behind me.

"I'm not stupid. I know that it's you…"

A hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me round.

"…Sakura."

* * *

**It's been quite a while, but I have been incredibly busy. This chapter is quite rushed, but I wanted to make sure that it was updated. Please read and review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

**Can't Let Go Chapter 7  
**

I have always found that in difficult situations I remember the strangest things.

It's just way my mind works, perhaps like a weird defence mechanism. I choose not to focus on what's happening right in front of me and my sub-conscious runs wild.

To give an example, when I was twelve, my teacher asked me a question on a topic that we had meant to revise the previous night.  
I had forgotten, due to two stupid boys getting into a fight and having to be patched up (That's another story).  
But, hey! It's just my luck that on the one time I didn't revise, I was chosen to answer.

It would have been much easier if I had just said that I didn't know the answer.

Instead, I stand there like a dazed puppy only to shout out "Ducks!" to an audience of unsympathetic school children.

It must have been months before anyone let me live that down.  
Even Ino couldn't help herself. Hinata, luckily, was ill that day and so didn't know why people quacked every time I walked by.

Seriously, though. Ducks?!  
What an earth was going through my head?  
And why did I shout it out?!

I guess it will be another one of life's mysteries.

* * *

"What?"

I heard Sasuke's voice. What did he mean 'what'?

Oh no...

"Sakura? Sakura, can you hear me? It's not that hard to work out that I'm great, and everything."

Temporarily forgetting my accidental outburst, I looked straight up into my former friend's eyes.

"How dare you."

My voice was as low and menacing as I tried to channel my inner self, the one that was a hell of a lot more scary than my usual self.

Before he could get a word in, I continued.

"You come here, after years of no communication whatsoever, and expect me just to forgive you? Then, you go making comment like that! You are an arrogant, stuck up, son of a..."

"Sakura!" Sasuke all but shouted. I noticed that I had gradually moved forward, as if, without thinking about it, trying to be more threatening.

Sasuke seemed the closest he would ever get to flustered.

He ran his hand through his hair, his very gorgeous, deep raven black hair...

Oh my god. This was Sasuke Uchiha standing in front of me.

This guy was incredible!

Barely a single person at university hadn't being buzzing with excitement about his arrival.

And here he was, right in front of me.

What was I doing? I couldn't just shout at Uchiha Sasuke!

Panic crept through my mind when I came to this realisation. I needed to get away. There nothing left to say to this person.

Just because he was famous, and I had known him once when he was a different person, didn't mean that I had to stay here and worship the ground he stood on.

I wasn't a mindless fan.

All the sounds of the outside world came rushing back once I looked away from his eyes.

I needed to get away.

I could hear some shouts coming from the main street that I had just come from and started to head towards them.

The man behind me grabbed my arm as I tried to dash away. "You can't do that, Sakura." His voice was calm again. Always so cool and collected.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, frantically trying to get away.

"Stop being so unreasonable."

"I'm not being unreasonable! Can't you handle someone not wanting to rip your clothes off for once?"

"That's not it at all."

"Then let me go!"

"You are being too loud," he pulled me behind a wall just in time to see a man with a camera run past the opening to the alley, "Those men are paparazzi, Sakura. They are vicious. If you walk out onto that street they will know that you were with me. If you want your life to be ruined by being hounded by cameras for the rest of your life, then go ahead."

I laughed at the distinct and settling feeling of irony I got from this situation. "How come you always manage to ruin my life, Uchiha?"

He seemed shocked by the question. His dark eyes hardened, "We are not talking about that here, Sakura."

"Well, then I guess we'll never talk about it, considering I'm never going to see you again after this." I managed to get my arm free, "Why are you even here? I would have thought that you would have enjoyed getting away with me. After all, you spent so long trying to show that you didn't want me around."

"Why won't you just get over yourself?"

I was outraged. "Me?! I need to get over myself?! Are we living in the same universe, Uchiha? You're the one with the ego so large that you can't even bring yourself to apologise! What did you want me to do, hey? Apologise for getting punched in the stomach? 'Oh Sasuke, I'm so sorry that I couldn't dodge your fist coming to...'"

"Ok, I get already! You didn't exactly make it easy to apologise. You ignored me every time I tried to talk to you."

"Oh, I wonder why?"

"Don't be sarcastic with me, Sakura. We both know who will win if it comes to that."

"How would you know? You don't know anything about me."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours! You ran off without so much of a goodbye! And don't you dare trying to accuse me of all of this. None of this would have happened if YOU hadn't betrayed my trust. Maybe if you weren't so selfish and stupid and ashamed of being friends with me..."

"I wasn't ashamed of being friends with you. I was trying to protect you. But you don't even want to try to understand that!"

"You are the one who doesn't understand. I was so scared! I thought you were going to save me, like the knight in shining armour I always believed you to be. You know what? It isn't as much about the punch as the betrayal. The bruise on my stomach healed years ago, but the fact that you betrayed me, Sasuke, that has stuck throughout..."

"You called me Sasuke."  
"What?"

I was temporarily distracted from my rant. I suppose that I had been calling him 'Uchiha' in an attempt to try and show that he didn't mean anything anymore.

"A slip of the tongue." I replied after a short pause.

"Sakura, as much as I'd love to stay here and argue with you, we really should get out of here. The paparazzi will find us any moment and that is not something that I'm looking forward to."

I closed my eyes, deep in thought.  
Right in front of me was the man that I had been hung up over for years.  
There was no doubt that I was still incredibly mad at him. I despised him for what he had done.

But deep down (possibly not so deep) there was still something willing me to forgive him.  
I just wanted my friend back.

And this might be the last chance.

"This alley leads to the back door of my building. If you're so desperate to talk, we can do it in my apartment."

"Hn."  
Now that was a familiar sound.  
Maybe there was a bit of my Sasuke left in this man after all.

* * *

The walk to my apartment was in almost complete silence.

Thank the Lord these back streets were far too seedy for the average city dweller to be caught traversing, otherwise we would have been in trouble.

I tried desperately not to look around at the man following me.

I ended up making a story out of it. Just like the Greek myth, you know the one where the man goes to get his wife from the underworld and can keep her alive as long as he can travel to the surface without looking? Something romantic and tragic like that.

If I made it to my apartment without looking at Sasuke, he will become my closest friend again, and not whatever these years have done to him.

Unlike, the man in the story, I am not going to fail and turn around. I pride myself in having at least some self control (I imagine Naruto would make some stupid comment there that would force me to hit him).

This whole situation has gotten me overwhelmed.

I know I really shouldn't be overwhelmed by Sasuke; after all, I did grow up with him.

But, it is really strange to think of him as my childhood friend right now.

I've spent the last couple of years seeing his face on the TV, on billboards, heard his voice on the radio. Everyone is perpetually gossiping about Uchiha Sasuke, especially recently, and it's gotten harder and harder to view him as anything other than that unreachable, glorified idol he has become.  
Don't you agree?

I was so sure that I was never going to see him again that I had started to question myself.  
What makes me any different to all those other fans? Past friendship doesn't mean anything in the world of the glitterati.

Yet, here he is.  
He followed me, even when I ran away.

I don't want to get my hopes up. If I've learnt anything, it's that I can't rely on him to be my perfect knight in shining armour.  
I can't trust him with blind faith.

If, If, I decide to forgive him, I would certainly not make it easy.

I hope that I made that clear to him earlier.

I'm really torn. I don't want to forgive him - I can't just forget the years of pain that he brought about me.

But, maybe I could. Very gradually. If he gains my trust again.

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I spend way too much attention to everything. Analysing people's characters and everything.

I suppose it comes with the job. I've got to have a good attention to detail if I want to be a good doctor.

As soon as I finished that last interesting thought, I noticed that I was at the front door. I had somehow made it into my building without noticing.  
So much for my attention to detail.

I sighed, then opened the front door.

I cringed as I looked around the small apartment.

It wasn't messy, but it must have been such a shock to Sasuke who is used to penthouses and luxurious suites.

I don't even know why I cared about what Sasuke thought of it.

"Well, here it is. Now is the time to say what you've got to say." I said, walking into my living room before stopping and staring at him expectantly.

He looked up.

There was a silence.

Finally, he made a start.  
"I want you to know that I never wanted it to be like this."

I was about to make a comment, but he held out a hand to stop me in my tracks.

"Please. Just listen. I think we shouted enough earlier, and it didn't get us anywhere."

He was putting himself on a line here. He sounded so vulnerable.  
Sasuke Uchiha does not do vulnerable.

Perhaps he did miss me, just the slightest bit, after all.

"I'm listening."

There was a slight flash of relief on his inexpressive face.

Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?

* * *

**Finally! Chapter 7 is out! First of all, I need to say a big thank you to all those that reviewed! **

**Over 100 reviews is beyond my wildest dreams. Reviews help to spur me on! **

**I'm really sorry for not updating earlier, but I'm hoping that things will become more regular. **

**I also need to thank my two beta's, Pistolwhipped and Fyrn for helping along the way. Please enjoy chapter 7 and I would love some reviews!  
**

~Sweetluvingurl


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